Compression body

Summary

In the theory of 3-manifolds, a compression body is a kind of generalized handlebody.

A compression body is either a handlebody or the result of the following construction:

Let be a compact, closed surface (not necessarily connected). Attach 1-handles to along .

Let be a compression body. The negative boundary of C, denoted , is . (If is a handlebody then .) The positive boundary of C, denoted , is minus the negative boundary.

There is a dual construction of compression bodies starting with a surface and attaching 2-handles to . In this case is , and is minus the positive boundary.

Compression bodies often arise when manipulating Heegaard splittings.

References edit

  • Bonahon, Francis (2002). "Geometric structures on 3-manifolds". In Daverman, Robert J.; Sher, Richard B. (eds.). Handbook of Geometric Topology. North-Holland. pp. 93–164. MR 1886669.